Girdle



Aug. 28, 1951 N. LOFTUS ET AL GIRDLE Filed Jan. 20, 1950 INVENTORS. JOJL'Pl/M'f BUTLER BY IVADEA 1.0F7'l/J Patented Aug. 28, 1951 GIRDLE Nadea Loftus and Josephine Butler, New York, N. Y.

Application January 20, 1950, Serial No. 139,573 m 2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to that kind of garment which is usually worn around the hips. Such garments are commercially known as girdles, foundation garments, shorts, swim suits, panties, panty-girdles and the like.

The ordinary girdle is usually made of some elastic material and. designed to closely embrace the body of the wearer. It encircles the hips and pulls the buttocks together to make one smooth continuous line from one side of the wearer to the other. This constriction and deformation of the muscles of the buttocks is neither artistic nor healthful. Any fleshy or muscular part of the body which is tightly bound up tends to deteriorate in muscle tone, shape and contour. This is the effect produced by the ordinary girdle, corset, or foundation garment which is designed to pull the hips, the stomach and the buttocks all together to form what is sometimes termed a stylish figure.

An object of the present invention is to produce a garment which will mold and restrain the hip portion of the body without tightly binding the buttocks together. This objective is accomplished in the present invention by supplying the rear or seat portion of the garments with suitable pockets for receiving the buttocks of the wearer and while restraining to some extent at the same time maintaining the natural shape and conformation thereof to permit free muscular movement and blood circulation and thus maintain a firm and healthful muscle tone in these parts of the body. Each of the pockets is formed and shaped so as to receive and mold the individual buttock portions in such a way as to give complete freedom thereto and at the same time produce an artistic and attractive appearance by enhancing the natural contour of the body. Further objects will be apparent upon reading the description which follows herein.

The invention consists in the novel arrangement, construction and combination of parts hereinafter particularly described and claimed. Looking at the one sheet of drawings which accompanies this specification;

Fig. 1 is a front view of the garment shown on the wearer.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the garment on the wearer.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of the garment stretched out in a flattened condition.

Fig. 4 is a section through line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment of the invention shown and described herein, the front of the garment is made up of panels I, 2, 3 and 4. The rear and side portions of the garment are made up of panels 5 and 6. The invention is illustrated as embodied in what is known as a panty-girdle which includes a crotch portion 1 dividing the lower portion of the garment into two leg openings 8 and 9. On the rear of the garment and at the waist portion thereof is-a placket l0 closed by a sliding fastener l I. This of course is for the convenience of the wearer when putting on or taking oif the garment. The garment may or may not be equipped with the usual hose supporters l2, l3, M and I5.

The rear panels 5 and 6 of the parity-girdle are equipped with a pair of cup-like pockets P6 and ii arranged to receive the buttock portions of the body of the wearer and mold and support the gluteus maximus to conform to the natural shape and conformation thereof.

It will be understood from the above description that the invention can be applied to various kinds of garments which are used to encircle the hips. Because of the presence of the pockets in the rear of the garment the natural conformation of the buttock portions of the body is maintained while at the same time a restraining or molding influence can be maintained on the front and side portions of the pelvic region of the wearer. The present invention allows the wearer to obtain a figure with a more or less flat front portion, if that is desirable, while at the same time permitting a natural and healthful freedom for the rear portion of the body.

The invention is not limited to any particular kind of fabric or material. It may be incorporated in garments made of elastic material or non-elastic material or garments which are a combination of elastic and non-elastic material. In the particular embodiment shown in the drawings the front and back panels l--6 are made of an elastic material which stretches horizontally but not vertically. The pockets l6 and IT are made of a one way stretch material with the direction of stretch arranged diagonally on the pockets at approximately 45 to the vertical or horizontal axis of the garment. The line of stretch converges toward the top of the garment as shown in the drawings. This arrangement and design has been found to be practical but other arrangements and designs will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and at the same time will retain the essential fundamental and claimed features of our invention.

Having thus fully described our invention we claim:

1. An undergarment of the girdle or pantygirdle type having front and back sides, said back side being divided into two panels each extending from top to bottom of the garment, a pair of outwardly dished, elliptically-shaped sections in the back side of the garment one in each said panel, said sections being joined to each other throughout a substantial part of their lengths, said sections being adapted to enclose and support the buttocks of the wearer of the garment each in a separate section, each section being of such shape and size as to embrace a buttock without substantial compression or distortion of the natural shape and contour of the muscular portion of the buttock, said sections bein made of elastic material whose direction of stretch is substantially at 45 to the vertical or' horizontal axis of the garment with the lines of stretch converging toward the upper portion of the garment and diverging toward the 'lower portion thereof, and the, direction of stretch of the material of each section conforming to the course of the muscle fibers of the gluteus maximus of the wearer of the garment. V

2. A waist-encircling garment having front and back sides, said back side being divided centrally and vertically thereof into two panels each extending from top to bottom of the garment, a pair of outwardly dished, generally oval-shaped sections in the back side of the garment one in each said panel, said sections being joined to each other at saidcentral, vertical division line of the back side of' the garment, said sections being adapted to enclose and support the buttocks of the wearer of the garment each in a separate section, each section being of such shape and size as to at least partially cup a buttock without substantial compression or distortion of the natural shape and contour of the muscular portion of the buttock, said sections being made of elastic material whose direction of stretch is substantially at to the vertical or horizontal axis of the garment with the lines of stretch converging toward the upper portion of the garment and diverging toward the lower portion thereof, and the direction of stretch of the material of each section conforming to the course of the muscle fibers of the gluteus maximus of the wearer of the garment.

NADEA LOFTUS. JOSEPHINE BUTLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 7 Date 650,954 Scriven June 5,1900 650,955 Scriven June 5,1900

1,740,554 Trageser Dec. 24, 1929 1,968,339 Eatman July 31, 1934 2,145,688 Flamberg Jan. 31, 1939 2,318,199 Clements May 4, 1943 2,458,712 Kops Jan. 11, 1949 2,483,302 Rockwell Sept. 27, 1949 2,490,137 Keller Dec. 6, 1949 2,506,826 Ford May 9, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 56,590 Denmark Aug. 14, 1939 

